I am very happy to welcome the newest member of The Atomic Garden gear family. It is a Kawai Upright Piano (pictured here getting its first setup/cleaning/tuning).

Its predecessor was a 110 year old pile that was nearly impossible to tune and became more of a visual piece than anything worth listening to.

The new piano sounds fantastic! After playing many similar models I finally found something that had the “rock and roll” sound that I was looking for. It is very bright and lively. Perfect for the kind of use a piano gets around here.

Another recent addition to the studio live room is a beautiful 1961 Hammond M3 Organ. All kinds of tone pouring out of this thing. You’ve got to oil and crank it like an old clock and its got a built in tube amp and speaker. Good times.

The piano and organ have made it on to several recordings since their recent arrivals. Meanwhile, there has been a keyboard sitting in the corner and collecting dust for over six years. People seem to be inspired by the real thing.

…I think this is technically 2 days worth of photos in studio (maybe even 3 days?). But anyways, back to work on the 8 songs that we have started with for our new record. Not sure which ones will actually make it on the record after we finish these and start the next batch, but we’ll see; so far it’s looking like it’s gonna be hard to choose. Things done these few days were: guitars (electric and acoustic), more tambourine and shakers, played a saw, and even some standup bass. Again, some different shit for us, but all in good taste; everything is sounding awesome.

…Another day in our studio, working on our upcoming full-length. If you caught the first post about this recording process, then you know that we are trying a few new things on this record (in both the writing and recording process). Some things maybe more dissonant than others (at least for us), but overall, we couldn’t be more stoked on the outcome of everything so far. I love the way it is all turning out and absolutely love how this new Comadre full-length is sounding. It’s been a while. Gotta do something way tight…and I hope you’ll like it :)

But anyways, this day we worked again on this first batch of songs using: a piano, an organ, cymbals (by themselves), shakers, a tambourine, and we also did some vocals.

…Here’s some photos from DAY 1 of many more to come in the process of recording our new full-length. As we’ve stated before, we are long overdue for a full-length, so we are making sure to take our damn sweet time on this one. We gave ourselves no due date and no rush, so hold on tight cause this might be a while till you hear a new song. But just to get the ball rolling on some excitement (cause we for sure as hell are), here are some sneak peaks on what you can expect of the new record. We’re trying out a bunch of new thing, and so far everything is sounding awesome. It is of course being recorded at The Atomic Garden, which is owned and operated by Jack.

One thing you can notice is that we set up the drums in the warehouse next door to his studio to get some crazy reverb off that huge room. And this of course is all going to tape. We also only recorded a handful of songs, still have more to write and more to get down in the coming months. Next up are the guitars for these few songs.

Enjoy the photos. More to come in the next few weeks/months. Might also have to sneak in some videos of the process as well :)

Ps…feel free to ASK questions now; I opened that function up on this blog now.

Please help a dear friend, Sarah Kirsch, who was an important figure and driving force in the 90s punk scene and beyond. She continues to be an important part of our community, our culture, and our music scene.

Even if you don’t recognize this name, you probably know Sarah. She has been a huge part of the punk/radical community for decades as Mike Kirsch (Fuel, Sawhorse, Pinhead Gunpowder, John Henry West, Torches To Rome, Bread And Circuits, Please Inform The Captain This Is A Hijack, Baader Brains, Mothercountry Motherfuckers, etc…).

She not too long ago came out as a proud trans-woman, and almost immediately was confronted with these terrible health problems. Money is badly needed— please help, and spread this appeal around!

Details….

Our good friend Sarah Kirsch was diagnosed over summer with Fanconi Anemia - a rare genetic disorder that causes Leukemia & other cancers. Despite being put through the f’n ringer by chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant and very long hospital stays, Sarah is staying strong and fighting hard, finally out of the hospital and at home with her amazing partner Jess and loving full-time caregivers and friends, Paul and Ilya.

Aside from the unconditional emotional and physical support Sarah has received from her devoted extended family and friends, donations to date have been enormously helpful in lightening the financial burden of this kind of illness. The demand for supplies not covered by insurance is, however, unending and deepening - from food to cleaning supplies to lotion to kleenex to parking at the hospital… It is adding up and multiple life savings have already been depleted.

If you’re able and would like to contribute in this way, please check out our Wepay account below. There is no donation too small, every $ helps.

Big thanks to Siah from Foreign Key Records for bringing Grammy winning reggae singer Mykal Rose through the studio last week. It was a fun session, for sure. I’m looking forward to getting into the mixing next week.

Ok, so it’s more like analog sound replacement, or re-amping, but that doesn’t sound as cool.

Recently, I had a song sent to me for mixing. After reviewing the first mix, the band wasn’t happy with the snare sound. They had used a busted snare that was all “pop” and no “rattle.” What to do?

I had read about this technique for years, but never really had a good reason to try it… until now.

Here’s how it works: The original snare track is sent out of a speaker. A snare drum is placed in front of the speaker. A microphone is placed in front of the new snare. Then, when the original track is played back, it triggers the new snare and produces the rattle we were looking for.

After blending the original snare track with the new snare track, the whole thing felt much more balanced. Good Times.

Imagine, if you will, a time before computers. Before there was reverbsoftware that could be slapped on a source to add space and depth. Even way back in the day there was artificial reverb, but it was attained through more creative means.

One way of achieving this effect was through the use of an echo chamber.This would be a medium or large room, located somewhere in the studiobuilding, that had an acoustically reflective quality (usually concrete, brick, tiled rooms, etc). Some studios would use their bathroom. Some wouldeven use an old elevator shaft. Anywhere that could achieve a naturallyreverberant sound.

In one of these spaces, there would be a speaker on one end, and a microphone (or two) on the other. Then, while mixing, anything that needed reverb would be sent out of the speaker, into the echo chamber, then recorded back through the mic (or mics) on the other end. Finally, that reverb would be mixed in as desired.

So, long story short, The Atomic Garden has recently gained access to such a space. This is very exciting for me because I have a soft spot for old school techniques like this.

Just below, you will find a quick test I did to see what I could get out of this 2,500 square foot warehouse space. In just few minutes, I was able to set up something that was more gratifying than opening up a reverb program in my recording software.

I’m really looking forward to getting to know this old school technique in the near future. More tests to come…

Mark your calendars, people. February 14th brings you the newest release from Classics Of Love; a Bay Area band made up of Jesse Michaels (ex-Operation Ivy) and the amazing boys of the rockin’ and rollin’ indie rock outfit, Hard Girls.

I had the supreme pleasure of recording, mixing and mastering this punk rock gem of a record. These gentlemen were great to work with, and this record is serious business. There is a real variety of styles and influences here. Something that has been missing from a lot of records in the past years.

Check out the tracks Gun Show (on the Audio page) and Dissolve (right down here)…

Last week I had the pleasure of hosting a portion of the filmingfor a documentary entitled Elder’s Corner. The film chronicles the stories and experiences of legendary Nigerian musicians from the 60’s and 70’s.

The portion filmed at the studio focused on MonoMono, a Nigerian band who pioneered the highlife music scene, and had been separated from each other for many years. There was an interview with many of the original members, followed by a live jam with the film’s director, Siji.

Meeting these legendary musicians and dedicated film makers was wonderful experience. I wish them all good luck in the future. I can’t wait to see the final cut of this film. Thank you Siji for bringing this through.

Hey Now!Congratulations to all of the good friends who got so much good press in 2011. I feel proud and privileged to have been a part of making these records. Thank you all for including me. Let’s keep rockin’ it in 2012. Here are some bands from last year to check out…

Botanist This one-man, black metal outfit released it’s first album (a double CD, totaling 40 tracks!!!) in 2011, and got a great write-up in NPR (among other metal magazines and websites). Dulcimer-fronted black metal… Get stoked.

Deafheaven Another SF black metal debut, released on Deathwish Inc, made it to NPR's “Best Metal Albums of 2011” list. There was a crazy amount of press for this band last year. The record kills. Check it out.

Mamaleek Yet another SF black metal band? Yup! Their third album made it to number one on the Forbes “Best Free Albums of 2011” list. I really enjoyed recording this album. This “mad-scientist” pair of brothers never ceases to amaze me.

Grayceon The fourth release from SF’s progressive metal trio got all kinds of great press. This record is epic. And the people involved are amazingly talented musicians. Check out their Metal Sucks interview.

Dominant Legs The song “Hoop of Love” made it to NME Magazine's “Best Pop Songs of 2011” list. The record is called “Invitation.” Get it. Dance to it. You’ll be glad you did.

Beau Navire This band is another killer combo of great people and great music. Their LP “Hours” made it the Hearwax “Best of 2011” list. Skramz-tastic!

I’m really excited about all of the equipment changes, and I’ve already noticed a significant improvement in the sound of my recordings. There’s essentially been a total overhaul. The idea was higher quality, a simpler, more cohesive design, and a more ergonomic layout. If you want to talk shop, or get more info feel free to Contact me.

Improvements include:

New mic pre amps, equalizers, and compressors.

New summing mixers and mastering-grade monitors.

Custom-built mastering-style console/desk.

Gigantic live room (for select projects)

Stay tuned for more frequent updates, blog posts, etc. Hope to see you guys some time in the next year!